Raspberry Cheesecake Stuffed French Toast

I was thinking that I should come up with a new twist (or at least new to me) on french toast. As I surveyed the ingredients I had in my fridge, I decided to make the french toast mentioned above.

1 cup ricotta cheese

1/2 cup raspberry jam

12 slices french bread *

8 eggs

1/4 cup half and half

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup fresh or frozen raspberries

Preheat oven to 350. Spray 8 X 8 baking dish with non-stick cooking spray. Mix ricotta cheese and raspberry jam together and spread on 6 pieces of french bread, lay in baking dish. Spread additional cheese/jam mixture on rest of bread and lay on top of first pieces. Mix eggs, half and half and vanilla together and pour over bread, be sure to press bread down as you pour on eggs, you want the egg mixture to soak into the bread. At this point, you can add fresh or frozen raspberries to the top. Pop in the oven and bake for 20 to 30 minutes. Serve with butter and lemon sauce.

*may also substitute challah bread or whole grain bread, basically any bread that is your favorite, or that you have on hand. I wouldn’t use savory breads such as dill or garlic for this recipe.

Lemon sauce

1 cup sugar

2 to 3 Tablespoons corn starch

2 cups water

4 Tablespoons butter

1/4 cup lemon juice

In a small pan mix cornstarch and sugar, add water and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and add butter and lemon juice. Stir until butter melts, serve over french toast or on the side.